To miss the production of “The Explorers Club” at Citadel Theatre opening April 25 would be “a big mistake,” said director Robert D. Estrin. “It’s just really funny.”

“The Explorers Club” is a farce written by Nell Benjamin in 2013 about eight men in London in 1879 trying to decide if they should let a woman into their exclusive club of scientists.

Though it explores the world of science and feminism, the play really isn’t highly moralistic — it’s just an outright 90 minutes of laughter, Estrin said. “It’s a romp.

“All of these explorers are kind of silly. What they’re exploring is pretty far-fetched. All of the characters are very eccentric in this play, but they’re all very honest, that’s what we’re working toward,” he said.

Estrin, who retired as a theater teacher after 19 years from New Trier High School, has directed many plays for Citadel Theatre and other production houses.

When he and his husband went to see the premiere of “The Explorers Club” in New York in 2013, “We absolutely fell in love with it,” Estrin said. “It’s really charming, and it was so funny. The characters were warm and eccentric.”

Huffington Post critic Steven Suskin wrote in 2013 that the play was “deliciously daffy and downright dandy.”

“Scott thought it was very funny, too. Finally, this year, we got the rights to do it.”

Estrin said, “We have a gorgeous set. It’s in this bar room that has all kinds of antiques and Victorian furniture.”

The club consists of a zoologist, botanist, someone with a pet snake, another with a pet guinea pig, someone who discovered a new species of plant and another who believes he’s found the lost tribes of Israel — in Ireland.

A young botanist introduces a woman into the club. “Of course the men are against that — at least initially,” Estrin said.

She’s discovered a new species of people. “So we meet Luigi, he’s dressed all in blue with blue makeup,” Estrin said.

Then there’s the terrible bartender, who gets replaced by Luigi who slides the drinks almost faster than the men can grab them. “The drinking scenes are very funny,” Estrin said.

The play “definitely deals with women in Victorian society and with how important exploration was at the turn of the century,” he said.

Some challenges he’s encountered include the physicality of the play, such as face slaps, kissing and a fight.

“We spent a whole day Saturday and another three hours on Tuesday just working out all those details and then before every rehearsal, we go through it again. We want to make sure everything they’re doing is safe, nobody is getting hurt,” Estrin said.

Citadel Theatre hired a coach to help with the physical scenes as well as a dialect coach to help the actors speak with British accents.

The costumes are “beautiful,” Estrin said, with “lots of tweed and patterns and textures.” The cast members have three costumes each, and that’s a lot for a play, he said.

“Here’s the bottom line,” Estrin said. “The cast is terrific. I could not have cast it better. They’re clever, they’re creative.”